Window balancer



Sept 2 1941-7. E. PEREM! a AL.

WINDOW BALANCER 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS 261212 and Peremi yHenrg M TATTO Filed Nov. 14, 1944 Patented Sept. 2, 1947 UNITED, TATES PATENTOFFICE 2,426,945 wmnow BALANCER Yonkers, N. Y., assi States ApplicationNovember 14, 1944, Serial No. 563,398

Claims. (Cl. 18-197) sash will be counterbalanced with an equalizingforce, regardless of the extent to which the sash is raised or lowered.

A further object of the invention resides in so constructing thebalancer that the sash will be balanced by a torsion spring in'cooperation with a connection between the balancer, frame and sash,which is such that an inclined plane will resist the free movement ofthe sash with a variable resistance having a substantially definiterelationship to the variable resistance of the torsion spring,

It is a further object of the invention to so construct the balancerthat the torsion spring may be placed under variable initial resistancesas are required in the balancing of the particular sash to which thebalancer is applied.

A further object of the invention resides in so constructing the devicethat it may be cheaply constructed and easily installed.

It is a still further object of the invention to so construct thebalancer that any binding action or resistance between the element thatis attached to the frame and the cooperating element that is attached tothe sash will be substantially reduced.

As other objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionprogresses, it is thought unnecessary to here point them out in detail.

In the drawings one embodiment of the invention is disclosed and itsapplication to a window sash and frame is likewise disclosed.

Figure l is an elevation of the window balancer showing its generalconstruction and disclosing the manner in which it is applied to thesash and the frame and cooperates with both, portion of the sash andframe being broken away and shown in section;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the balancer;

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view showing the spring adjustingmeans;

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view on the line 6-4 ofFigure 1, showing the relationship of the window balancer, the sash andthe frame; and

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view .On the line 5-5 of Figure 4,showing the relationship between the guide shoe and the inclined planein the helical trackway or tube. I

A side rail i and top and bottom rails 2 and 8 respectively of a sashare illustrated in the drawing, as is also a portion of the lamb 4 ofthe window frame, the sash being provided with a recess 5 that extendspreferably from end to end thereof. The window balancer is locatedwithin this recess.

It is, of course, to be understood that it is prefenable to use abalancer on each side of the sash, but that it is possible to use one ononly one side of the sash.

For convenience of illustration and description the application of thewindow balancer will be described in connection with one side of thesash, but when two balancers are used it will be understood that thesecond duplicates the first.

The window balancer includes essentially a tubellke member 6, which isprovided with a helical groove or trackway I that extends substantiallyfrom end to end thereof, or at least sufl'lciently to accommodate themovements of the sash. A torsion spring Sis located within the tube 6and extends substantially from end to end thereof. This spring issecured to the lower end of a rod 8, which rod is in turn secured, bymeans such as a set screw it, within and to the lower end of the tube 6,and is provided with an extended trunnion bearing H, which is freelymounted at ii for rotation within a bracket I3. This bracket i3 isadapted to be secured by means such as a screw it to lower rail s of thesash.

The upper end of the rod 9 terminates at l5 short of the end of thespring, and the spring abuts at it against a bearing member on a stud I!and is secured thereto. Secured to the upper end of the stud I'll is aratchet l8, between which and the bearing member ill a bracket ill islocated. This bracket is secured by means such as a screw 20 to theupper rail of the sash and carries a spring pawl 2i which engages theratchet.

It will be seen that this arrangement locates the tube 6 and itscooperating parts entirely within the vertical confines of the sash sothat it travels upwardly and downwardly with the sash and is neverexposed to view. The-angularity of the groove or trackway I varies as inefiect an inclined plane from top to bottom of the tube, the angle thatthe groove. forms with the vertical axis decreasing from the lower endof the tube toward the upper end, gradually, and the vertical distancesbetween the convolutions of the glOOVe gradually increasing from bottomto top of the tube as shown'in. Figure 1.

The window balancer will, of course, successfully operate with groovesof different angularity. It has been found, however, and this is setforth by way of example rather than by way of limitation, that asuccessful angularlty and angle variation exists when the angle adjacenta the bottom of the groove is 45", as is indicated in the drawing, andwhen the anguiarity gradually decreases toward a point adjacent the topof the groove to 22.

A shoe 22 is pivoted at 23 to a bracket 24. which is attached, by meanssuch as a screw 25, to the jamb 4 of the window frame and looselysurrounds the tube 8, as indicated in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings,thus permitting a certain degree of relative horizontal movement betweenthe bracket and the tube 8 to take care of any unevennesses that mayexist between the sash and the various portions of the jamb as the sashis raised and lowered.

This shoe 22 has relatively long bearing surfaces 26 and 21, as will beseen in Figure 5 of the drawings, so that it has an extensive contactwith the edge of the helical groove when the sash is being either raisedor lowered. The pivot of the shoe 22 at 23 permits the shoe to adjustitself 4 to the angular variation of the groove 1, thus reducing, or inany event, preventing the increasing of the friction between the shoeand the helical groove as the angularity of the groove varies. Thetorsion spring 8 may be given the desired initial tension by axialadjustment through the ratchet H! by a simple rotation of the ratchetwhich, in effect, winds the spring on the silencing rod 9, the lower endof the spring being held stationary by the means heretofore described,and the upper end being positioned by the stud I! rigid with the ratchetl8.

During the lowering of the sash the spring will be placed undergradually increasing tension and at the same time the angle ofinclination with the vertical of that portion of the groove 1 with whichthe shoe 22 engages will gradually decrease while the distance betweenthe convolutions of the groove I will increase. When the sash is raisedthe tension of th spring will gradually decrease while the angularitywill gradually increase and the distance between the convolutions willdecrease. The result will be that the sash in all of its positions willbe balanced with substantially a weightequalizlng force.

As the angularity of the groove 1 varies the shoe 22 will ride on itspivot 23 to accommodate itself to the angular variation of the groove tomaintain a surface contact between the groove and the shoe when the sashis being moved in either direction.

The tube 6 may be formed in any desirable mannenbut it has been foundconvenient to form it of a piece of sheet metal wound into tubular formto produce the groove 1.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it is, of course, to be understood that many details of theconstruction may be varied without departing from the spirit of theinvention or exceeding thescope of the claims, and these variations willbecome at once apparent to one skilled in the art.

We claim: 1

1. In a window balancer, a rotatable and longitudinally movable tubehaving a helical groove extending lengthwise thereof, a coil springarranged longitudinally within said tube and at-- be secured to a windowframe, a shoe having a relatively long rectilineal side havi g contactwith the edge of said groove, and means pivoting said shoe at one of itsends to said bracket, with its other end free to follow said edge ofsaid groove by movement about said pivot as said tube is movedlongitudinally.

2. In a window balancer, a rotatably and longitudinally movable tubehaving a helical groove extending lengthwise thereof, a coil springarranged longitudinailywithin said tube and attached to the tubeadjacent one of its ends, means for anchoring the spring at its otherend and independent of the tube, a bracket adapted to be secured to awindow frame, a shoe, having relatively long rectilinear parallel sides,engaged with the edges of said groove, and means pivoting said shoe atone of its ends to said bracket, said pivot means being located beyondthe outer face of said tube.

3. In a window balancer, a rotatably and longitudinally movable tubehaving a helical groove extending lengthwise thereof, a coil springarranged longitudinally within said tube and attached to the tubeadjacent one of its ends, means for anchoring the spring at its otherend and independent of the tube, a bracket adapted to be secured to awindow frame, a shoe having relatively long rectilinear parallel sidesand curved ends, engaged with the edges of said groove, and meanspivoting saidshoe at one of its ends to said bracket, said pivot meansbeing located beyond the outer face of said tube.

4. In a window balancer, a rotatably and longitudinally movable tubehaving a helical groove extending lengthwise thereof, a coilspring'arranged longitudinally within said tube and attached to the tubeadjacent one of its ends, means for anchoring the spring at its otherend and independent of the tube, a bracket adapted to be secured to awindow frame, ashoe having relatively long rectilinear parallel sidesand curved ends engaged with the edges of said groove, and meanspivoting said shoe at one of its ends to said bracket, said pivot meansbeing located beyond the outer face of said tube, the angle ofinclination of said groove to the vertical decreasing from adjacent oneend of the tube toward the other end thereof.

5. In a window balancer, a rotatably and longitudinally movable tubehaving a helical groove extending longitudinally thereof, a rod locatedwithin and secured to said tube, a helical spring secured to said rod atone of its ends and surrounding the same, a bracket having a horizontalportion and a vertical portion, a bearing plate abutting said horizontalportion of said bracket and independent of said tube, the adjacent endof said spring being secured to said bearing plate, a ratchet rigid withsaid bearing plate and supported by the horizontal portion of saidbracket, and a spring pawl for said ratchet secured to the verticalportion of said bracket.

6. In a window balancer, a bracket, a rod rotatably mounted in saidbracket, a bracket spaced from the first mentioned bracket, a studrotatably supported by the second mentioned bracket, a coil springsurrounding said rod and stud and secured at its ends to said rod andsaid stud, a tube having a helical groove therein extendinlongitudinally thereof secured to said rod, a shoe adapted to be securedto a. window frame and located within said groove and adapted to ridetherein, a ratchet secured to the upper end of said stud and havingperipheral teeth therein, and a spring actuated detent adapted to berigidly associated with a window sash adjacent said ratchet and toengage said ratchet teeth.

7. In a window balancer, a bracket, a rod rotatably mounted in saidbracket, a bracket spaced from the first mentioned bracket, a studrotatably supported by the second mentioned bracket, a coil springsurrounding said rod and stud and secured at its ends to said rod andsaid stud, a tube having a helical groove therein extendinglongitudinally thereof secured to said rod, a shoe adapted to be securedto a window frame and located within said groove and adapted to ridetherein, a ratchet secured to the upper end of said stud and havingperipheral teeth therein, and a spring actuated detent adapted to berigidly associated with a window sash adjacent said ratchet and toengage said ratchet teeth, said stud and ratchet assembly having a toolreceiving recess therein by means of which the torsion of the spring maybe varied.

8. In a window balancer, a bracket, 2, rod rotatably mounted in saidbracket, a bracket spaced from the first mentioned bracket, a studrotatably supported by the second mentioned bracket, a coil springsurrounding said rod and stud and secured at its ends to said rod andsaid stud, a tube having a helical groove therein extendinlongitudinally thereof secured to said rod, a shoe adapted to be securedto a window frame and located within said groove and adapted to ridetherein, a ratchet secured to the upper end of said stud and havingperipheral teeth therein, and a spring actuated detent adapted to berigidly associated with a window sash adjacent said ratchet and toengage said ratchet teeth, said rod having an enlargement at its lowerend for the reception of the lower end of said spring.

9. In a window balancer, a bracket, a rod rotatably mounted in saidbracket, a bracket spaced from the first mentioned bracket, a studrotatably supported by the second mentioned bracket, a coil springsurrounding said rod and stud and secured at its ends to said rod andsaid stud, a tube having a helical groove therein extendinglongitudinally thereof secured to said rod, a shoe adapted to be securedto a window frame and located within said groove and adapted to ridetherein, a ratchet secured to the upper end of said stud and havingperipheral teeth therein, and a spring actuated detent adapted to berigidly associated with a, window sash adjacent said ratchet and toengage said ratchet teeth, said stud having a bearing member for saidspring secured thereto and located below the adjacent bracket.

10. In a window balancer, a bracket, a, rod rotatably mounted in saidbracket, a bracket spaced from the first mentioned bracket, a studrotatably supported by the second mentioned bracket, a coil spring.surrounding said rod and stud and secured at its end to said rod andsaid stud, a tube having a helical groove therein extendinglongitudinally thereof secured to said rod, a shoe adapted to be securedto a window frame and located within said groove and adapted to ridetherein, a ratchet secured to the upper end of said stud and havingperipheral teeth therein, and a spring actuated detent adapted to berigidly associated with a window sash adjacent said ratchet and toengage said ratchet teeth, said rod having an enlargement adjacent itslower end for the reception of the lower end of said spring and saidstud having a bearing member for said spring adjacent its upper end.

EDMUND PEREIVII. HENRY WEIMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,178,533 Viehweger Oct. 31, 19391,248,221 Webster Nov. 27, 1917 2,335,816 Tappan Nov. 30, 1943 539,924Stuebner May 28, 1895 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 834,438 FranceNov. 21, 1938 769,817 France Sept. 3, 1934

